NOAA calls for unusually wet weather in Florida through June

Although El Niño conditions are waning, they may stick around long enough to influence precipitation patterns in the southern U.S. through June. (Credit: NOAA/ CPC)

A wet spring and early summer is in the new long-range forecast for Florida issued today by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.

Forecasters are also calling for above normal temperatures in the state through the end of June, although they hedged their bets on April, saying there are equal chances for above or below normal, or normal temperatures.

“While El Niño is weakening, the seasonal outlook for April May and June is still largely influenced by El Niño,” Climate Prediction Center forecasters said in an analysis. “The current El Niño conditions are strong and likely will be at least moderate as April begins.”

Through the first 16 days of the month, just 0.01 of an inch of rain has fallen at Palm Beach International Airport, and that occurred on March 1. That translates to a current precipitation deficit of 2.29 inches.

Temperatures are running 4.8 degrees above average for March.

But Palm Beach and South Florida may be in for a cool and wet second half of the month. Some forecasters are predicting an inch of rain this weekend and more rain is possible during the final weekend of the month. Cooler temperatures in the 70s are on the horizon for early next week.

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CO2 LEVELS JUMP: Carbon dioxide levels as measured at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii posted the largest annual increase in 56 years of record keeping, the weather agency reported.

February’s reading was 402.59 ppm (parts per million), an increase of 3.05 ppm from the previous February. It was also the fourth consecutive year CO2 levels jumped more than 2 ppm, according to Pieter Tans, lead scientist for NOAA’s Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network.

“Carbon dioxide levels are increasing faster than they have in hundreds of thousands of years,” he said. “It’s explosive compared to natural processes.”

CO2 is one of the main drivers of global warming, scientists say. Before 1800, CO2 levels were around 280 ppm.

The jump in CO2 levels can be partially attributed to El Niño, NOAA says, since the warm water phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean affects the way plant life interacts with the environment.